Game Preview:
The Truman women's basketball team will step outside of conference play for the first time since late November as they travel to McKendree University (Ill.) on Saturday night. The hole in the schedule was caused by the University of Nebraska-Omaha's departure from the MIAA to Division I.
Truman (12-9; 7-9 MIAA) has won all five non-conference games this season and this will be the third non-conference game against a future member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Bulldogs defeated Quincy 79-69 and Rockhurst 62-46.
The Bulldogs' invitation to the “Block Party” on Wednesday night must have been lost in the mail between Kirksville and Hays, Kan. Truman had 12 shots blocked, including 11 in the second half in the Fort Hays State Tigers 63-56 victory in conference play. Katelyn Edwards had 21 points and eight rebounds while Kate Lehman had 13 points, 11 boards and eight of the 12 blocks for the victorious Tigers in the battle for fifth place in the MIAA standings.
Becka McHenry scored 24 points for the second straight game and
Breanna Daniels added 13 for the Bulldogs. McHenry is averaging 16.2 points per game in her last five outings.
McKendree (7-16) is transitioning from the NAIA to Division II this season and will play a full GLVC schedule next year. The Bearcats will be playing their third game in five days when they host the Bulldogs. McKendree lost 71-46 at Missouri S&T on Tuesday night and will play at nearby Lindenwood University on Thursday. For the season, McKendree will play 16 Division II games and are 1-9 in games played to date. Their lone win came against future GLVC opponent Lewis (Ill.) 64-57 back on November 14.
Caty Ponce leads the Bearcats with a 13.5 scoring average while Shelby Woelfel is averaging 7.3 points, 5.9 rebounds and shooting a team high 52% from the field. McKendree has lost 14 of their last 15 games.
About The Bulldogs:
Junior
Becka McHenry leads Truman in scoring and is 9th in the conference at 14.1 points per game. McHenry is averaging 15.3 in 16 conference games while shooting 43% from the floor with 5.0 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game.
Junior
Jennifer Conway is second in scoring at 12.4 points and 11.9 in conference games. Conway is shooting a team-high 46% from the field.
Senior
Breanna Daniels is third in scoring at 10.5 and 10.3 in league tilts. Daniels is the team's top free throw shooter at 88% but has only been to the line 34 times.
Sophomore
Nicole Gloor has 25 steals and leads the team with 42 offensive rebounds while averaging 9.0 points per game and freshman
Allie Norton has made a team-leading 45 three-pointers while scoring 8.6 points a night.
The Bulldogs are averaging 69.2 points per game and 65.9 in conference games. They are shooting 38% from the field, 34% from beyond the arc and 72% from the foul line in conference action.
The Series:
This will be the seventh time and first since 1988 that Truman and McKendree will play basketball. The Bulldogs have a 6-1 series lead and have won two of the three games played in Lebanon, Ill.
The last meeting was December 22, 1988, an 81-80 Truman (then-Northeast Missouri) win in overtime while McKendree's only win came on Feb. 22, 1988 71-64.
Two school records are held in a game played against McKendree. Jeanette Cleaven was 10-of-11 from the field in a January 26, 1987 game to hold the team record for field goal percentage in a game at 90.9% and also in that game, Truman set a school record with 33 assists as the Bulldogs won by their largest margin 97-49.
Bulldog Trends:
In the last five games (2-3), Truman is holding opponents to just 17% from behind the line (10-of-56) while just turning the ball over just 11.8 times.
Becka McHenry have averaged 16.2 points per game with a pair of 24 point outings while
Jennifer Conway has averaged 14.6 points during that span. Truman has been without sophomore
Nicole Gloor for the last two games.
In the seven Truman conference wins this season, the average margin of victory has been 14.7 points, the closest win was a two-point victory at Washburn and the largest win was a 25 point home win against Southwest Baptist.
In the eight conference losses, the average margin of defeat is just six points, with three one-point losses in the mix.
The largest loss was by 21 at Emporia State while Truman dropped one-point games to Northwest, Missouri Western and Pittsburg State. Also in those defeats, Truman has been blocked 57 times (6.3/g) compared to 21 (3.4/g) times in the wins.
In the five non-conference games, the Bulldogs averaged 80 points while allowing just 52.8 per contest, shot 45% from the field and forced over 18 turnovers per game.
Players With Local Ties:
A pair of Truman juniors will be playing near their hometowns on Saturday night.
Jennifer Conway played Waterloo (Ill.) High School while
Megan Sharpe played at Edwardsville (Ill.) High School. Conway scored a season-high 23 points in a loss to Pittsburg State back on Jan. 25th and is the team's second leading scorer at 12.4 points per game. Sharpe is a three-time volleyball All-American for the Bulldogs and is one of the basketball team's top defensive players averaging four rebounds, 10 blocks, 16 steals and 4.9 points per game.
Surpassing A Grand:
Senior
Breanna Daniels became the 16
th Truman women's basketball player to eclipse 1,000 points for a career and first since Georgia Mueller did so in 2009 earlier this season. Daniels has scored 1,155 points to date, 13th all-time in Truman history. She will pass Susan Theroff with 4 points for 12th.
Daniels has started 86 of 102 games played during her Bulldog career and is shooting nearly 40% from the field with 138 made three pointers. Her single-game high in points is 27 against Northwest Missouri on Feb. 17, 2010. She is averaging 11.5 points per game. Daniels had 65 double figure scoring nights with one double-double.
Daniels is third all-time in Truman history in made three-pointers (138), third in three-pointers attempted (397), eighth in free throw percentage (.791) and 10th in field goals (443), seventh in field goals attempted (1120) and sixth in games started (86).
Notable National Rankings:
In the latest set of national rankings released on Feb. 2nd Truman was 11th in three-point field goal percentage (36.8%) and seventh in turnovers per game at 13.5. They are also 19th in assist/turnover ratio, 30th in free throw percentage (74.1%) and 45th in rebounding margin (+5.3).
Individually,
Becka McHenry was 26th in assists per game at 4.9 and 24 in assist/turnover ratio.
Allie Norton is 27th in three-point field goal percentage (41.0%) and 10th in assist/turnover ratio.
Bulldog Tip-Ins:
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Truman is averaging 69.2 points and shooting 40% from the field, 36% from the arc and 73% from the line. Last season the team averaged 62.7 points shooting 39% from the field, 33% from beyond the arc and 66% from the free throw line.
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The Bulldogs are 7-4 in Pershing Arena this season and 13-10 over the past two years at home.
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Over the past two years, Truman is 9-11 on the road in conference play. From 2000-2010, the Bulldogs were just 15 and 75 (.200) in league road tilts.
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Truman has led at the half in 14 games this year and has won 10. They have trailed the other seven games and won two of them.
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The Bulldogs have won the battle of the boards in 13 games this season with the largest margin of 19 against Lincoln. They have had a double-digit advantage in rebounds in eight games.
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Three Bulldogs have topped 20 points 10 times this season. Becka McHenry has scored 24 points in three games and has five this season. Nicole Gloor also had 24 points in the win against Lincoln and has two games over 20 points. Conway has three over 20 this season.
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Truman has had five different players through 19 games lead them in scoring. McHenry has eight games while Conway (5), Gloor (4), Daniels (3) and Jenny Dorman have one game.
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Five Bulldogs have each recorded double-doubles through 20 games. Jennifer Conway has three while Breanna Daniels, Allie Norton, Nicole Gloor and Becka McHenry have one apiece. Three Bulldogs recorded double-doubles last season with five coming from Jennifer Conway and one apiece from Amy Galey and Megan Sharpe.
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Becka McHenry recorded the first triple-double for the Bulldogs since December 1, 1998 when she scored 14 and had 10 assists and 10 rebounds. It was the 12th triple-double recorded in Division II this season and first in the MIAA since Missouri Western's Tiffany Davis recorded on in 2006 against Washburn (18p, 14,r, 11a).
Up Next:
Truman will play three of their last four regular season games at home starting on Wednesday night against Northwest Missouri. The Bulldogs lost by a single-point to the Bearcats in early January. Game time is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
Player Notes:
#5 Allison Wiese – Has appeared in 12 games, seven in the MIAA thus far…scored a season-high six points against Central Methodist while playing 13 minutes and adding two steals.
#10 Kaitlin Stump – Has missed the past 20 games with an injury…only action of the season was in the opener against Lindenwood-Belleville where she played eight minutes and had one assist.
#12 Allie Norton – Started all 21 games and leads the team with 45 three-pointers and a 39% three-point shooting percentage…has scored in double-figures nine times this season with a season-high 16 points against Quincy and Missouri Southern…is second on the team with assists with 61 and dished out 10 for a double-double against Central Methodist.
#13 Jenny Dorman – Has come off the bench in all 21 games this season…scored in double figures twice with a season-high 19 points against Central Methodist…averaging about 12 minutes per game and is shooting about 31% from the field and 31% from beyond the arc.
#15 Jennifer Conway – Started 19 games and is second in rebounding (6.2 rpg) and is second in scoring at 12.4 points per game…has been in double-figures 13 times this season with a high of 23 points against Pittsburg State…shooting 46% from the floor and has three double-doubles.
#21 Megan Sharpe – Joined the team on Dec. 3
rd after earning all-America honors for the third straight year on the volleyball court…has played in 15 games, making four starts…had the game-winning basket against #15 Washburn as time expired while also playing a season-high 25 minutes.
#22 Becka McHenry – Team leader in minutes played at 32.2 per game while also first in scoring 14.1 and first in assists with 104…has scored over 20 points on five occasions with a high of 24 against Lincoln, Southwest Baptist and Fort Hays State…been in double-figures 15 times and had a triple-double with 14, points, 10, rebounds and 10 assists against Pittsburg State on Jan. 25.
#24 Sarah Gaeddert – Had played in 18 games this year and averaging around eight minutes a game…scored a season-high four points against Lindenwood-Belleville, Central Methodist and Northwest Missouri and added three assists with six rebounds in a win over Rockhurst.
#25 Bianca Szafarowicz – Has started six and come off the bench in 15 games…shooting 46% from the field and is third on the team with 34 offensive rebounds…scored a season-high 11 points in a win over William Penn and pulled down nine rebounds with six offensive in a win against Lindenwood-Belleville.
#32 Nicole Gloor – Has started 11 games and came off the bench in eight others…one of the team's top defensive player…has scored in double-figures nine times this season with a high of 24 against Lincoln…second on the team lead in steals with 25 and third with six blocked shots…averaging about 23 minutes per game.
#41 Rachel Remick – Played in all 21 games made three starts…scored in 15…season-high is eight points against Emporia State on Dec. 17th…posted a season-high nine rebounds against Lindenwood-Belleville.
#42 Breanna Daniels – Has started 18 games and came off the bench in the other three…averaging 28.3 minutes in each…has been in double-figures 14 times with a season-high 18 points coming against Washburn.…has one-double-double on the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds against Lindenwood-Belleville…went over the 1,000 career point total with 13 against Pittsburg State on Dec. 3…a third team all-MIAA member and Academic all-district selection last season.
